SECOND GOP^. 




10 Sherman Street 



# 



^ 



dildreth's 

— 6-$ Pacific JJvenui 



near Sackson Boulevard 
Chicago 



•'t 



56798 



TWO COPIES HEOEiV 



'f Ciifi>f- 



^r^^H 



-'Od of th« 

APR I 9 1900 



A 



-X- . ^• 




" Hts first, best, perfect corroborant." 






COPYRIGHT, 1899, BY CHAS. N. MILLER. 



.J 




THE WELSH RABBIT. 

Pedigree ^ Preserves 
Panegyric c^ Performances* 

'E is a contention from the outset ; yes, from statt 
to finish. His name is disputed, digestion de- 
nied, assimilation doubted. The autocrat of 
the lunch table, he divides honors with no gfastro- 
nomic neigfhbor. He is the piece de resistencet >nd 
quarrels with accompanying viands, however mild, 
meek and ingratiating. In dietary observances he 
admits no fellowship, scorns all alliance, and shares 
no intestinal privilege. He nests quietly enough 
when alone, but, forced into association with an 
auxiliary morsel, becomes an organised disturbance* 
In the company of gormands and trencher-men, he 
is proud, haughty and exclusive, but ** among foam- 
ing bottles and ale-washed wits ^ he is *' base, common 
and popular.** You will find him affable with gour- 
mets and sipper s, see him familiar with tipplers, and 
catch him wallowing with topers and toss-pots. Pro- 
miscuous in his cups, he revels in every beverage — 
vinous, brewed, distilled — that courtesy can suggest 



and cnteftainment supply. Withal, he is a soberer 
anti-narcotic and a restorer anti-spasmodic. 

He is always suspected, seldom trusted, some- 
times abused. Strangfers accuse him of dyspepsia, 
yet, on the tongue of a friend, he is d)rg^estion''s 
self. Those who know him not charge him with 
insomnia, but he who trustingly lies down with 
him hugs a gentle soporific. He is the most mis- 
applied, misunderstood, misrepresented creature that 
tampers with man^s omnivorous appetite. I have 
seen the strong man moved with a desire to receive 
him and, in the alarm of fear, refuse to entertain 
him. I have heard the weak man call him a 
tough, assail him without cause and convict him 
of misdemeanors without testimony; and I have 
thought he who would clear this clouded reputation 
and reconcile these inconsistencies might smooth the 
Welsh rabbit^s way for an enjoyable reception at a 
communion of saints, as well as of sinners, fix for 
him permanently at the board the place he deserves,. 
and prepare for him at last, as Lamb did for roast 
pig, **a fair sepulchre in the grateful stomach of the 
judicious epicure.** This would be a gastronomic 
service to mankind such as Fluellen rendered, when 
he introduced the leek to Pistol, and would *Met 
a Welsh correction teach you a good English, 
condition.** 

First, his name. Decidedly, WELSH RABBIT. 
Meddling lexicographers in the vanity of theii 
boastful erudition have sought to grace his homely 



patronymic in a borrowed robe of their own verbi- 
age, just as meddling cooks in the coxcombry of 
their kitchen art have attempted to embellish his 
form with excess of ingredients. An erroneous 
terminology — RARE- BIT— h.a.s unsettled the orthog- 
raphy of his correct nomenclature much as ill- 
sorted condiments have confused the method of his 
proper making. The name rabbit is an expressive 
slang term jocularly applied. The dish originated 
or was popularized in Wales, time out of mind, a 
country of cheese eaters. Macmillan's magazine has 
given a reasonahle explanation. It says: — "Welsh 
rabbit is a genuine slang term, belonging to a large 
group which describe in the same humorous way a 
special dish or product or peculiarity of a particular 
district. For examples: An Essex lion is a calf: a 
"Fieldlane duck is a baked sheep'^s head: Glasgow 
magistrates or Norfolk capons are red herrings: 
Irish apricots or Munster plums are potatoes: Grave- 
send sweetmeats are shrimps.'^ Similar characteristic 
localisms are not wanting on this side the water: — 
Massachusetts dates for Boston baked beans: Stock 
Yards woodcock for Chicago's ubiquitous spareribs: 
pan rabbit for scrapple — mush fried with bits of 
pork. Welsh rare-hit, clearly an error, should dis- 
appear from bills of fare. His name settled, his 
preserves, the fitting occasion for his advent, the 
proper mannjsr of serving, and his friendly and 
compensating performances, are all recommending 
topics of discussion. 



His preserves. Where Wchh. rabbits most 
haunt and thrive, the air is not over-delicate» The 
best in the world are trapped at the lunching tables 
of some old established ** porterhouse,^ where the 
walls are hung with pictures of dogs and horses 
the floors sanded, and tables without covers. You 
can hardly snare or shoot a good one in the elegant 
refectory, the gorgeous restaurant or the fashionable 
hotel cafe. A mahogany and beveled plate glass 
enclosure makes a poor rabbitry. The tavern, inn 
or half-way house is the ideal and perfect warren. 
They are often caught at sea, and many a fat and 
juicy one is to be had on the American and Eng- 
lish Atlantic "liners.^ You shall not trust French 
cooks and culinary artists to take him: in their too 
much compounding and embellishing he eludes them 
always. You will rely upon a grillroom man cook, 
one with a strong grip on important kitchen points, 
to run him down successfully. Few women have 
ever captured one: when you meet her who can, 
you shall call her Diana and admit so expert a 
huntress to the chase. 

This accept as certain, the plainest Welsh 
rabbit is, itself, an intense relish lunch, to the 
sharpest zest all-satisfying. Therefore avoid flavor- 
ing sauce and seasoning till served. Overcharged 
with condiments, he cloys taste before gratifying 
appetite, impairs gusto before appeasing hunger, 
banishes desire before filling the void. Never an 
appetizer, entirely out of place as a dessert,, he is 



exclusive diet. You shall not dt&g him into a 
menu of edibles for mixed service. He sulks in the 
aristocratic society of lobster, terrapin, partridge, 
canvas-back: frets in the presence of oysters, steaks 
and chops: and flies into rebellion against plebeian 
neighbors — hash, sausage, liver. Entertain him 
alone and avoid internecine tumult. Have your 
rabbit plain and large: plain, that you may eat 
him heartily: large, that you may be wholly satis- 
fied. You misunderstand him, if you are ignorant 
of the nature of his peptic action: you misapply 
him, when you force him into gastral fellowship: 
you misrepresent him, because you depreciate his 
inability to coalesce. Taken aright, the sea-sitive 
stomach may receive him without resenting his 
heartiness and the weak digestion may attempt 
him without fear. As "the hand of little employ- 
ment hath the daintier sense,** so the stomach with 
this single responsibility hath the less distraction. 

A time and place all his ov/n hath this 
Welsh rabbit, on occasion, the lunch incomparable. 
He knows no out-of-season retirement, but is an 
all-thc-year-round game, surrendering his place to 
none of the finned, furred or fea'thered tribes. He 
is an unrestricted and privileged character in the 
spirit-mortifying and flesh-crucifying season of lent. 
Denationalised, pan-racial, he enjoys the freedom of 
every city. The mimic player, for the support he 
renders after the scene is closed, has exalted him 
particularly into an histrionic tid-bit. When a 



warm bite is wanted, as the side feature of a fanc- 
tion, he comes quickly, is served easily, and with- 
draws speedily. He enlivens and relieves, without 
appropriating, an eveningf. As an after-theatre 
snack, he causes no delay to lose you the last 
train. You may break from the card-table, enjoy 
him, and resume ere you forgfet **who played three- 
spot for low.^^ So rich, gorgeous, inexpensive, quick, 
satisfying! such a prompt appetite queller after 
fasting! such an adorning tassel on top of one's 
"nightcap" indulgences! such a pick-me-up when 
one is drooping under the somnolent influence of 
social tipple!— it is at times an accomplishment to 
conjure him in captivating form. 

Wheife revelry has license, he is first and last,, 
laying a solid foundation for a bout or weaving a 
hiding blanket for the sins of a bat. Periodical 
abstainers, "unfortunate in the infirmity/' find him 
a ready excuse for occasional temptation. Under a 
teetotaler's jacket, he will tamper with the appetite 
and prick the sides of intent till he "hath carous'd 
potations pottle-deep." Fiolicking with fly-by-nights, 
he mixes alike with **wassailers of high and low 
degree," careless whether the drinks hit him up or 
wash him down. Buoyant in the social swim, he 
floats on the " highest top sparkle " of pleasure's 
wave or in tempestuous seas doubles Cape Horn, 
with his friend Coloiiei "Jag " of Kentucky without 
tacking or coming about. Among companions " dy- 
ing scarlet," he is the Major De Boots — every- 



body's friend— drinkingf with any tinker in his own 
language. But no misleader of either young or old 
is he: — a guide and a deliverer rather. He will 
steady and direct the erring feet of your ^'wander- 
ing boy,'' when, confused, he is feeling for the 
home trail: or he will drop in upon a group of 
rounders, half-seas-over and laboring under a flood- 
mixture of beverages, that "to divide inventorially 
would dizzy the arithmetic of memory" in a tay^ter 
eloquent at reckonings, stow the cargo, trim ship, 
and set each on his due course. The inveterate 
drinker has him always for defense against "the 
enemy." Knowing his performances, were I to 
name him, I would call him a retrieving St. Ber- 
nard whose mission is the rescue of bewildered noc- 
turnal "strays." 

It is now half past ten: about the best time 
to eat one. Here, waiter, order us two Welsh rabbits. 
Have them made plain. Set the condiments on the 
table and bring two bottles of Bass from the bar. 
Nonsense! not harm you in the least. Just the 
thing you need: my word for it. Yes, I've heard 
about cheese digesting everything but itself: cheese 
raw and cheese cooked are different things. Fine 
absorbent! Here they come! Throw on a little 
Worcestershire: some like a few drops of the sauce 
from the chow-chow boltle: now a sjxinkle of 
paprika, and there you have him, "crov/ned, gar- 
landed, wanton." Raise the edges and let a little 
oi the sauce find its way to the toast unde^neath^ 



He's ready: eat quickly: grace before meat^ but 
after the Welsh rabbit. Don't for8:et your ale. Oh, 
excellent! What's that? You could eat another? 
No, no! I have told you he is an appetite queller: 
he would pall on you, and you'd stall at the second 
mouthful: but you may drink another bottle of 
brew: that's his first, best, perfect corroborant. 
Listen: to-morrow you shall laugfh at the man who 
told you the Welsh rabbit is dyspeptic and sneer at 
him who said he is sleepless: for you have caught 
the trick of his digestion — a bath in "reaming 
swats," and learned the secret of his wakeful- 
ness — that 

"He'll -wsLich ike horologe a. double set. 
If drink rock not his cradle," 

Come, finish your bottle. There, we are all 
through, and it's only eleven o'clock. 




Good Night, 



COPYRIGHT, 1899, BY CHAS. N. MILLER. 




Grace before medt, bat after the Welsh rabbit. 




014 484 629 1 



AN EPICUREAN ODE. 

There is soulful zest in a plover, 

And the man is not badly stuck 
Who tears the canvas cover 

From off the canvas-back duck? 
And just a single word to the wise — 

It's a lucky day for you, 
When you pick up the terrapin that lies. 

In the rich and savory stew. 

And the reed bird (who isn't a sparrow) 

Has a sweetness all his own, 
As sweet as the splendid marrow 

In the depths of a well-grilled bone; 
But these dainties are rank and bitter, 

And their finest witchery pales 
In the light of the golden glitter 

Of the rabbit that comes from Wales, 

— Detroit Free Press. 



O. F. COE 

PRINT 

340 DEARBORN ST., CHICAGO. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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014 484 629 1 



